News
Texas Agency Finds No Wrongdoing by Harmony Public Schools
Texas education officials have dismissed a complaint against the state’s largest charter school network after determining two major charges leveled against it by the Turkish government were baseless. “The flagrant lies spread by these foreign agents are unconscionable,” said Robert Schulman, a lawyer representing Harmony Public Schools.
ABA urges Obama to protest Turkey’s suppression of free speech
On September 1, the American Booksellers Association joined American publishers, authors, and librarians in a letter urging President Obama to protest the widespread suppression of free speech in Turkey during his September 4 meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan in China.
Alleged Gülen sympathizers in prison banned from communication with outside world
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has prohibited individuals in Silivri Prison who are currently under arrest over their alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement from communicating with the outside world during an ongoing state of emergency, the Sözcü daily reported on Monday.
Erdogan regime keeps defamation of the Gülen mov’t, calls it crusader organization
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman Yasin Aktay has said the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Gülen movement are crusader organizations that are serving the same purpose.
Erdoğan vows to strip Gülen sympatizers off Turkish citizenship
Speaking in his Black Sea hometown of Rize on Saturday, Erdoğan repeated his unsubstantiated accusations against the Gülen movement, calling its sympathizers “terrorists.” Erdoğan urged these people under persecution to become citizens of the countries in which they are living, saying that “they will not be considered citizens of this country.”
Council of Europe warns against hate speech by senior state officials in Turkey
The human rights body of the Council of Europe, the Commission against Racism and Intolerance, issued a report on Wednesday about the increasing use of hate speech, even by senior state officials. While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the Gülen sympathizers “viruses,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım labeled them microbes. The movement is the main target of a massive purge and witch-hunt in Turkey.
(Not a joke) Turkish governor: ISIL terrorist detonated himself in construction site not to harm neighbors
Following the detonation of an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist in Turkey’s Gaziantep province on Sunday, the governor told reporters that the suicide bomber detonated himself in a construction site in order not to cause problems for the neighbors.
Imprisoned Gülen followers subject to rape, nail extraction, object insertion: lawyers association
People imprisoned as part of a government crackdown on the Gülen movement are being systematically tortured in the most barbaric ways including rape, removal of nails and the insertion of objects into their anuses, according to the president of a leading lawyers association.
Human rights associations up in arms over deputy’s remarks on torture allegations
In an open letter to the Turkish Parliament, six Turkey-based human rights associations on Thursday criticized recent remarks of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Mehmet Metiner, who said the government would ignore allegations of torture and mistreatment if victims were sympathizers of the Gülen movement.
Turkey’s Maarif schools to be funded by Saudi and IDB money
The Maarif Foundation, established by the Turkish government in order to compete with Turkish schools abroad established by Gülen movement sympathizers, has received approval from Saudi authorities and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for financial support for Maarif schools abroad, a Turkish news portal reported on Friday.
Turkish intelligence abducts Gülen-linked expats in Malaysia: relatives
With the government praising Malaysia over its alleged deportation of three Turkish citizens due to their links to the Gülen movement, recent tips from relatives stated that they were in fact abducted by Turkish intelligence officers.
Hundreds celebrate Clifton’s diversity at festival
Yesilova prepared rich Turkish coffee for those who stopped by a table for the Turkish Cultural Center at the festival, which took place at Clifton High School. The event, which featured food and performances from around the world, was part of more than a year-long commemoration of Clifton’s 100th anniversary.
Turkish ambassador leads an unrealistic mission: bringing a reclusive Muslim cleric before Turkish courts
Although Turkey immediately blamed Gulen for the coup attempt, it took Ankara nearly six weeks to make a formal request for his extradition — and that was based on earlier alleged crimes, not for his supposed role in the coup.
